Estelle Getty is best known for her role as Sophia on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls. The beloved actress won an Emmy Award in 1988 for her contribution as an Outstanding Supporting Actress.
On this day, July 22nd, in 2008, Estelle Getty passed away of natural causes in the comfort of her Hollywood Boulevard home. Her death occurred just 3 days before her 85th birthday.
When other Golden Girls co-stars reflected on the death of Getty, they mourned the loss but said that her memory would always live on in the character of Sophia. In memory of Getty, Lifetime TV aired ten reruns of Getty’s best Golden Girls episodes on July 25th, Getty’s birthday. The episode that earned Getty the most acclaim, entitled “Old Friends,” was played last.